Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
by DuckyPanda
Summary: It's been ten years since the successful coupe d'etat, but even time can't change how Eren and Jean feel about each other. No, it just forces all of their pent up feelings out in an explosive rivalry as Captain and Commander.


**Horsehoes and Hand Grenades**

**Ch. 1**

It's been ten years since the successful coupe d'etat, but even time can't change how Eren and Jean feel about each other. No, it just forces all of their pent up feelings out in an explosive rivalry as Captain and Commander.

* * *

><p>"Aberrant incoming from the west!" A voice shouted above the thundering hooves of the horses. Captain Jaeger shifted his gaze to the treeline as he leaned to the left, directing the large animal towards the incoming threat.<p>

"Mikasa!"

Black eyes met green, then with a simple nod, she too broke formation taking her squad along. Eren followed close behind, leaving the rest of the survey corps to continue north towards home.

"Captain! Let us help!" A young boy spoke out from the main herd.

"Follow the Commander. That's an order!" He didn't even look back to his own squad member that had called out to him. As the pounding hooves died away, the aberrant came into full view.

Easily a 25 meter class, belly like a pig; it's arms and legs didn't look strong enough to hold it's weight, but the zig-zag pattern it ran in said otherwise. It didn't even seem to notice the seven humans closing in on it. Eren looked at the monster's face, a habit he developed upon learning that titans were once humans. He felt he owed them that much if he was gonna kill the creatures. It's large, murderous eyes were not focused anywhere in particular as Mikasa and her squad took the left flank and Eren soloed the right. Just as they began to get into kill range, it's gaze locked onto Eren. Immediately, it turned it's back to the larger group of people and made a beeline for the young captain.

"_Heh._ Perfect!" His eyes ignited when he pulled right and the aberrant followed. He hugged the treeline and a smirk grew on his face; being "The Coordinate" definitely had it's benefits.

He stood in the saddle, stretching his back to twist and leer up at the ugly titan. Raising a bandaged hand in the air, he shouted profanities as if to provoke it. Eren wasn't dumb. Okay, he wasn't _entirely _dumb. He knew that would achieve nothing, but he enjoyed it. His long dark brown hair caught a gust of wind causing loose strands to fall into his vision.

"Tch," He tucked them back behind his ears, still twisted around in the saddle. "If it wasn't for this damn ponytail, I'd cut it all off."

Well, it wasn't much of a ponytail. Small, and low on his head, but it kept everything in place. When he was younger long hair was out of the question, but as years passed he started to let things like that slide. Behind both of them, taking to the trees, Mikasa rolled her eyes. Her men abandoned their mounts as well to follow their squad leader on 3D maneuvering gear. It had been 10 years since the successful coup d'etat, and only two since Eren became Captain, but he hadn't really changed in all that time. Granted, he wasn't as angry anymore, but he still took too much pleasure in taking down titans. Not that Mikasa minded, really, missions were easier when Eren went on a killing spree.

Through the straps of her harness that hugged her frame, she could feel the vibrations of the grappling hooks as they connected to the trees with a crunching thud. The gas propulsion lightened her body like a bird's allowing her to soar directly to the weak spot in her vision. Before charging forward fully, she paused. Looking to her teammates, she decided to rely on the youngsters; let them get their first in-field kill. With a wave of her hand, they responded and jumped into action as she pulled back. The five recruits who had just been hand picked by her two months ago, were already on the titan before she could blink.

With practiced precision, the two youngest at 15, took out the ankles. Cam, a blond girl and top of her class, spun to the left. While her counterpart, Jona, spun to the right. At the same time, Josef and Ned each took out an eye. The aberrant started to fall, much to Eren's dismay, as the final and oldest member of Squad Ackerman ran along the spine to dive into a thick slice that tore the weak spot away in one, steamy chunk. The 17 year old titan-killer dropped to the ground, knees bending from the force, and immediately began wiping his blades.

"Damn, that didn't take as long as I thought it would." Eren had slowed and circled back to meet the group, now gathered by the titan's steaming body.

"Captain Jaeger, sir!" Bo, who was still cleaning his blade of titan residue, quickly saluted him as he approached; as did the rest of the nervous teenagers. Eren scrunched his face at the formal greeting.

"Don't do that. It's creepy."

Looking to one another, they hesitantly lowered their arms as Mikasa brought their horses back. Like a unit, they turned and nearly saluted her as well before being shot down with her glare.

"Relax, you did great for a first kill," she greeted them, then turned to her adoptive brother "we can't waste anymore time. I'll fire the signal, you get back to the Commander."

Everything grew deathly quiet, the cadets all frozen in place waiting for Captain Jaeger's reply. It was well known that Eren had a short fuse and could sport a nasty temper when he needed to, especially if someone tried to tell him what to do. There was even talk amongst their class that he had bad blood with the previous Captain who was now Commander of the Garrison.

But, the kids were young, none of them _really_ knew any of this. Nor did they know Mikasa very well yet. All they had to go off of was the rumors of her being stronger than most men.

"Yeah, yeah…" Eren waved a dismissive hand to her, much to the squad's relief. "I'm going."

Mikasa could feel his eyes rolling from where she stood.

He pulled on the reins, cloak flipping from the sudden jerk, and took off for the faint image of the survey corps. Unfortunately, the Commander would be there too.

They had only wasted a little bit of time on the titan, so the formation hadn't progressed very far. Within a few minutes, and a little extra push from Eren to get his horse to run faster, he caught up to the rear. Ignoring the half salutes and shouts of acknowledgement, he made his way to the front.

Leading the Survey Corps, as the 14th Commander, a set of broad shoulders and messy sandy-brown hair gallantly rode north. The familiar back seemed miles away but he could practically _taste_ him he was so close. Eren ached to be next to him. The mere thought drove him to urge his mount faster. He _needed_ to see his face…._needed _to hear his voice….

"Yo, horseface."

"Fuck you, Titan-shitter"

Commander Jean Kirschtein, whipped his head to the left, and squinted at his Captain. Their long-standing rivalry was very much alive in that moment. Eren raised an eyebrow at him followed by his signature half smirk, while Jean just glared.

" Ouch, why so touchy?" Eren was laying on the mock '_I'm so offended'_ act really thick.

"Tch. you started the name calling." Jean looked forward, but kept the grimace in place.

"I've called you horseface since we were like, 15."

"Doesn't mean you didn't start it."

"_Wow_. What are you, 5?"

"Shut the hell up before I kick your ass!"

"HA! I dare you."

"Dammit, Eren! I fucking swe-"

"Hey!" A small voice piped up from just behind them, cutting off whatever Jean was about to say. Like two stunned deer, they both looked over their shoulders at the person who had the gall to interrupt Commander Kirschtein and Captain Jaeger.

Of course, it was their favorite little tactician. Armin Arlert was only a few paces behind their galloping figures, his shoulder length blonde hair was partially pulled back to reveal fiery blue eyes. It was rare for Armin to be angry, but it wasn't unusual at all for him to call the two leaders out. It was kinda his job, after all.

"Are you two going to keep arguing like children or are you going to discuss the aberrant? I swear you two are more obsessed with each other than Hanji is with titans." His gentle voice did nothing to mask the snarky edge to to his tone.

Eren cleared his throat and looked to Jean who was nervously scratching the back of his head. A small "oh shit!" was heard a few rows back. It was most definitely Connie.

"Right, as you saw with the flare, the aberrant has been eliminated." He gestured to the sky with a bandaged hand upon mentioning the signal.

It was only for a second, but Jean looked a little too long at the hand. Eren noticed and quickly went back to holding the reins, hiding underneath his cloak.

"Did you have to shift?" Jean phrased it as a question, but the words came across with too much worry laced through them.

Eren looked anywhere but at his face. If he saw his brown eyes, that would be the end of him. They rode in silence for a few moments, both wanting the tension to ease, before he responded.

"No, Mikasa's squad took care of it. I just used the coordinate to lead it."

The Commander's shoulders slumped in relief, but only enough to be noticed by Armin who rode directly behind his horse. The blonde sighed internally at the two of them.

It was obvious to him how they felt about each other. In fact, it was probably obvious to every person in the whole damn corps _except_ the two of them. Armin had been stealthily using his skills as a tactician to get his two friends and superior officers to realize it for themselves for years now. But, he also knew it was complicated for more reasons than one. Firstly, Eren had a few "titan" issues.

Jean made a point _not_ to look at Eren for the remainder of the ride back home. He still desired to kick the brat's ass, but no one had to know what he _really_ thought. In the past couple of years Eren's bite marks had stopped healing along with other small scrapes and bruises. Instead, they would form permanent scars which his body was slowly starting to be covered with. Hanji thought it was a side effect of aging and overuse of his titan form. Weirdly enough losing an arm or a leg wasn't an issue, those would just grow right back like usual. When he got a fresh limb, that was the only time his skin was smooth. But again, like Hanji said, it might be a side effect. According to her, Eren was losing the ability to heal a little bit at a time.

Jean clenched his eyes shut, as if that would block out the thoughts. He didn't want to even think about what _that_ would mean for Eren. He shook his head and refocused. Home was within site.

* * *

><p>A knock on his door shook Eren awake. He was a fairly light sleeper so even people walking by his room could disturb him. He didn't get up immediately, exhaustion from their recent mission held him in place. Dropping his gaze from the ceiling to the shadows under the door, he watched to see if they would just go away.<p>

"Eren, it's me." No such luck. "I know you're awake"

He groaned as he drug himself off the firm mattress and shuffled to the entrance of his room. The old wood creaked under his boots he had never taken off so it was impossible to turn back now. _He_ would know for sure he was awake. Eren sighed and slowly opened the heavy door to let Jean enter.

"Do you always have to sleep in your uniform?" Commander Kirschtein sneered as he stepped past Eren.

"Do you always have to bother me when I'm sleeping?" He retorted.

Jean ignored him, refusing to rise to Eren's taunt. That was not what he was there for. He lit a candle on the night-stand and sat on the edge of the Captain's untidy bed. Aside from the crumpled blankets, the room was spotless. Eren always cleaned when he was upset.

"Commander Levi scared you into a clean-freak…" Jean quietly mused to himself.

"What did you say?" Eren growled.

"Nothing, just talking to myself."

Silence fell between the two of them. Eren stood by the now closed door, waiting for Jean to ask what he knew he would.

"What did Hanji say?" Jean mumbled, like he was afraid to ask.

Eren shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He hated this topic, but he knew he couldn't avoid it with him.

"Same. Nothing's changed." He moved towards the desk and sat in the wooden chair in front of his bed. Crossing his arms over his chest was Eren's fail-safe sign of insecurity. A little tick Jean picked up on from spending so much time together as Captain and Commander.

"What are you hiding." It wasn't a question, Jean was demanding Eren tell the truth. Even in the dim light Jean could see his green eyes shift away from him.

"Nothing," but then Eren thought better of it. "It's just, I don't want you to see." Jean's shoulders fell and his eyes reflexively softened at his confession.

"Okay," he sat up straighter, leaning a little further away from Eren. "See what? Your scars? I've seen them before…"

"I know, It's just…" Eren uncrossed and then recrossed his arms. "You get this look, and it pisses me off."

Jean narrowed his eyes, not sure if that was an insult about his appearance or if Eren was being vague on purpose. The young Captain allowed his gaze to meet Jean's finally, and then they became prisoners to each other. Now that Eren thought about it, this happened a lot. It was one of the many reasons he hated looking at his face.

"What look?" He pushed. "If you're gonna say I look like a hor-"

"No, that's not it!" Eren snapped. He sighed in frustration and bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Jean matched him, bringing their faces closer.

"Then what is it?" He whispered.

Eren touched one of his hands with his own. He still had not replaced the bandages after Hanji's examination. She required him to meet with her after every mission whether or not he "shifted". He was grateful she cared so much about his well-being, but it was annoying to be treated like an old toy that needed constant maintenance.

Jean dropped his eyes as he felt the uneven skin of Eren's hand. Crescent shaped grooves marred the surface of his tanned flesh. His brow scrunched and his lips tugged into a frown as he studied the white marks. It was hard to find an expanse of skin that was perfectly smooth. He ran his hand up past his wrist, pulling the shirt sleeve with it. The marks continued, gradually getting more sparse until they stopped completely at his elbow. He despised how fascinated he was with Eren's old wounds.

"There," Eren's voice snapped Jean's head back up. "That face. I don't like it."

Somehow they had moved closer while he was inspecting the damage. Less than a foot separated them now. Jean cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm upset, Eren," he stated bluntly. "Naturally so, too. Anyone would be if someone they cared for had to go through _this._" He lifted the arm he still held.

"Cared for?" Eren was a little slow on the meaning. "All you've ever done is give me nasty looks and work me like a dog."

"You dumbass," Jean pulled away from him. "That's your job. I was talking about something completely different."

"I know what my job is, idiot."

"Obviously not since you're confusing my personal feelings and your duties."

"Your _personal feelings_ are what force me to clean the women's bathroom once a month!"

"Hey! That was not my doing, and you know it!" Jean gave him a pointed glare. "Women have _stuff_ to deal with and Mikasa said you're the most detailed with cleaning."

"Oh, that's fucking gross." Eren threw his hands up. "You didn't have to say it like that."

Whatever moment had existed between them before, was gone. Jean was irritated beyond belief at how dense Eren could be sometimes. He stood up from the bed and looked down at his long time friend.

"You started it," Jean shrugged.

Eren stood as well, not wanting to be literally talked down to. Well, he was still shorter than Jean but at least he could fight back on his feet.

"How childish," he deadpanned, completely unimpressed. "Don't you have Commander things to be doing?"

"Yes, and I was just going." He moved towards the door, leaving Eren behind. But before he could pull it open, something grabbed his sleeve. Shocked, he slowly turned his head back.

"I'm sorry," Eren was looking at his feet. "I know what you meant, about caring for me and all."

Jean's eyes widened slightly. He turned to face him as his sleeve was released. Eren looked up to meet him as he did so, puppy dog eyes in full force. Something clenched in Jean's chest.

"Oh, um..don't worry about it." _That was lame_, he thought. _Good job, Jean…_

"I'm just frustrated that you and Hanji, Mikasa and Armin, all of you...you all worry and fret over me. I'm fine. I can take care of myself." He didn't mean it in a bad way. He truly hated seeing other's worry about him because it meant they weren't focused on themselves. Eren would never let himself live it down if someone was killed out there because they couldn't stop thinking about him. To survive in this world, you had to fight. Fighting meant you had to try. Trying meant you had to care enough about yourself to survive, and surviving meant living.

"Eren, you can't be a one man army forever." Jean interrupted his thoughts. "Sometimes it's okay to rely on others. When you work as a team, you're trusting those around you. That's the best way to show you care out there. And trust me, we all care about you."

Flashbacks of 10 years prior flooded Eren's mind at those words. So much death and desperation in one day. Petra, Auruo, Erd, Gunther...all dead. Dead because he trusted in his comrades. It's not that he didn't believe Jean, it's just it was so much easier to keep everyone alive if he forced them out of the way.

"I don't want to talk about that right now" He motioned to the door, signifying the end of their conversation.

Jean sighed, knowing it was a futile battle he waged. He pulled the door open and stepped into the lit hall. Before he could even turn around and say goodbye, Eren had shut him out.

"Goodbye to you too," he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

From inside the room, Eren was slumped against the door. He could've sworn Jean had said something but it was far too muffled to make out.

"Bye, Jean."

* * *

><p>The mess hall was close to empty the next morning. That was to be expected the day after missions, everyone was too tired to wake up in time to actually feed themselves. Most members of the Survey Corps trudged in at the crack of noon for lunch before afternoon training. Eren was normally one of those people.<p>

Mikasa nearly dropped her bread at seeing Eren plop down across from her. She looked to the other few people that occupied the small hall, silently asking if she was seeing things. The most response she got was an obnoxious yawn from Sasha.

"I'm glad you decided to join me this morning." She went back to the gruel and bread they always ate. Eren put his head in his hands and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning." He looked to the serving line, as if he was willing a bowl to magically fill itself and settle down in front of him.

"Are you hungry, Eren?" She pushed the remainder of her gruel towards him.

He eyed the half eaten bowl of mystery breakfast and stood up to walk away from her. He grabbed his own bowl and bread before coming back to his seat.

"You eat your food, I'll eat mine." Using the bread like a spoon, he shoveled in as much as he could swallow at one time.

"You'll choke," Mikasa said flatly. "And you look ridiculous."

Eren looked at her over the top of his makeshift bread-spoon, pausing for a moment to give her a dirty glare. She sighed and let him continue to eat the way he wanted. How long has it been since she stopped trying to win these little fights? She wasn't even sure anymore. Instead, she let him finish his meal in silence.

Some young recruits fresh from the Training Corps marched into the hall. Their loud voices carried since no one was really talking. Having had an adequate amount of sleep the night before since they hadn't been on a week long mission like the rest, they were laughing and full of energy. Mikasa dropped her gaze to her food, determined to ignore them. She was more worried Eren might turn around and attack one of them. Luckily, he had placed his head on the table and wrapped his arms around his face like he was sleeping.

The trio were making their way to the food line when one of them noticed Mikasa. She knew what the younger Corps members thought of her, having to constantly decline offers of flowers and love confessions. The kids looked nervous as they walked by and waved to her. Thinking that to be all, she went back to her food without so much as an acknowledgement towards them.

"Excuse me," a voice called from behind her. She turned her head and looked up to see one of the boys she had ignored. She didn't respond, just continued to stare at him until he decided to speak again.

"Squad Leader Ackerman, um my name is Marl and I know you don't know me very well but I think you're really pretty and you shouldn't let people like the Captain treat you that way since you are so pretty...and well I guess what I'm trying to say is...I lik-" The boy froze mid-sentence, a look of horror washing over his face. Mikasa closed her eyes, pretty sure of what had just happened.

"Eren..."

"No...no, Mikasa. Let him finish." He had revealed his face to the boy. The scariest thing about his expression was that there wasn't one. Marl had no way of telling how pissed off he was or wasn't, all he knew was that he had just insulted Captain Jaeger right in front of him.

The boy's two other friends had fled the moment they realized what was happening. As for the other's in the mess hall, no one seemed to notice Eren was tormenting a new recruit. Since they all had grown up with him, they were used to his rude behavior.

"You were saying?" Eren tilted his head slightly, feigning curiosity.

"Uh, Captain Jaeger, sir!" He saluted him. "I'm sorry for my rudeness. It won't happen again."

"Good. Stay away from Mikasa." He looked the frightened boy in the eye. "Now, leave."

Without another word, or breakfast, Marl ran from the mess hall.

"I love doing that." He stretched his arms over his head and smirked.

"You know they fear you, right?" Mikasa sighed. "But you're like a stuffed toy. All fluffy on the inside."

"Ha! Are you saying I'm soft?" Eren's outburst caused a few people to jump. He ruffled his own hair, furthering his bedhead, "Maybe I am."

Another body and bowl dropped down next to Eren, causing the two to stop mid conversation.

"Never thought you would admit that, Eren," Armin laughed. Eren punched his shoulder and gave him a disgruntled look.

"Shut up, Armin. Get a haircut."

"You're one to talk. Your hair is longer than mine now."

"Mine is shorter than the both of yours, too." Mikasa interjected, twirling her chin length locks around her index finger.

"I still think it looks good on you." Eren had noticed her hair getting shorter and shorter and was happy to think he had caused that. She sent a small smile over her red scarf. That was another thing Eren was happy he had caused.

"How's Jean."

Armin was a mood killer. Eren continued to look at Mikasa, not wanting to see the smile on his friend's face.

"Nope." He stood up from the table and began to head for the door.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Armin grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back down into his seat. He would sound panicked if there wasn't a laugh hiding in his voice. "I'm sorry, I just want to know what you guys talked about last night. I saw him leave your room."

"Okay," Eren added a lilt to his tone to imply the statement was meant to be sarcastic and not approving. "Why does it matter?"

"He looked upset," Armin pointed his spoon at him. "What did you do?"

"What? Why does it have to be me? Maybe _he _did something!" Eren threw his hands up and looked to Mikasa for support. She was pretending to eat from an empty bowl.

"Uh-huh, that tells me you _did_ do something." Armin went back to eating.

"I didn't…" Eren groaned. "I mean, I don't know. I said his face pissed me off."

"And you don't think there's anything wrong with that?" Armin looked up at him, spoon halfway to his mouth. "That's pretty harsh."

"Tch! I say stuff like that all the time, though." Eren sounded like he was pleading with him. "He always looks upset about my scars and I got mad. That's all that happened."

Armin slowly nodded and went back to eating without a reply. Mikasa smiled and stood up from the table.

"What?" Eren looked between the two of them, confusion falling over his features. "Why do you look like you know something I don't?"

"I'll see you at training, Eren." Mikasa waved and walked away.

"Hey, Mikasa! What was that about? What do you know!?" Eren called to her as she hurried through the front entrance. He turned his gaze to Armin who suddenly had become very interested in his bread.

"We're best friends, right?" Eren tried. "Tell me what's going on."

"I don't know, maybe you should ask Jean."

Eren was about to say he didn't want to talk to that horseface about anything when the door flew open.

"Oi, Eren!"

Armin nearly laughed at his perfect timing. Eren groaned.

"What the hell do you want?" Eren stood up to face the Commander as he approached. As much as he despised him, he couldn't help but admire the presence he held when he entered a room. It was like everything grew dark and he was the center of all the light that existed. It could also be that everyone within a 10 foot radius literally stops to salute him.

"I have some documents I need to discuss with you." He stood halfway across the room from him, "my office. Now."

"See ya, Eren." A hand slapped his shoulder, causing him to stumble forward.

"Thanks, Armin…" He looked over his shoulder to his best friend who was taking back their empty bowls before trudging towards the person he was trying to avoid.

"I don't have all day, Jaeger." Jean snapped and placed his hand on hip. His tone was much more edgy than normal, enough so that it caught Eren's attention.

"Geez, wake up on the wrong side of the haystack?" He grumbled as they left the hall together. The morning was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Training was going to be a literal hell that afternoon. Eren squinted into the bright sunlight and shifted to walk in Jean's shadow.

"What, not in the mood for banter?" Eren continued when he didn't reply.

"Something like that." Jean was wearing his glasses, which was a rare occurrence. That usually meant he didn't sleep the night before and was trying to hide how tired his eyes were.

" _'Banter is a big word, Eren. You sure about that?'_ was the correct response, by the way" Eren pulled out his best impersonation of Jean. The taller male glanced sideways at him for a second.

"That was pretty accurate, actually." Jean breathed out a faint laugh and allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch into a smile. It wasn't long before he seemed to remember he was supposed to be upset and an even deeper frown took it's place. They rounded a corner between two buildings, the shade there and the cool breeze making them walk a little slower.

"I try," Eren laughed. "So why the hell are you so upset?"

"You're as elegant as ever," Jean removed his glasses as they approached their headquarters. "I just didn't sleep much last night."

"Well, that was obvious since you wore your glasses. I meant why are you being an ass. Like, more so than you usually are." They walked through the large entranceway into the dark hallways that signified the Survey Corps headquarters. The cool air washed over them but unfortunately for Jean, it did little to ease his tension.

"I'm not an ass." His brow furrowed as the heavy doors slammed behind them. Eren let out an audible "tch" that Jean responded to with a click of his tongue. Both of them were too exhausted, especially now with the sun draining their energy before the day could begin. They remained uncomfortably quiet all the way to the office of the Commander, the only noise being their boots thumping heavily on the stone floor.

Eren eyed the back of Jean's head and trailed down his spine to land on the Wings of Freedom brazenly displayed on his back. He was sure Jean was stressed, he could tell by the way his shoulders tensed every time a cadet salutes him or how his brow twitches when orders for a new mission reach his desk. He knows he isn't best at communicating how he feels, but after 2 years as Commander and Captain, Eren would think he would open up to him some. Even now as he followed his movements, he could see how stiff his steps were.

"You even sound like a horse when you walk. Try relaxing for a change. It might do you some good." Eren crossed his arms over his chest and nearly crashed into Jean who had come to an abrupt stop.

"Hey, what the he-"

"Can you shut up for five minutes?!" They had reached his office. Jean had his hand on the doorknob, the other thrown out in exasperation. Eren took a step back, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"_What?" _He gritted his teeth, forcing the word out.

"You're such a child! Is it so bad to want a little peace and quiet when I'm with you?!" A few cadets who had been chatting at the next turn in the hallway hurriedly ran past in an effort to avoid any stray wrath.

"Can we have this conversation inside, please." Eren murmured, watching the cadets run by. Jean narrowed his eyes, taking Eren prisoner in his gaze like he always did. He didn't back down from the Commander's gaze, opting to remain locked in a staring contest until Jean willed his pride down enough to finally open the door.

The office looked the same as it had when Erwin Smith, now Commander-in-Chief, inhabited it. Well, Jean had moved the couch to the opposite wall but for the most part nothing had changed. The large desk still sat in the same place, and when he looked at it he was still reminded of the old days when he was a member of Levi's squad. He shook his head, returning his mind to Jean who had taken to leaning against that very same desk.

"Okay, we're inside." He removed his glasses and folded his arms.

"Wha- you were the one yelling and making a scene! Why do I have to start the conversation?" He stood about ten feet away from Jean, wanting to give him his space in case he snapped again.

"Well, you obviously have some sort of problem with me. Both today and last night you completely shut me out, you act like I fucking bother you and that pisses me off" He rubbed his temples, his voice a lot calmer than Eren expected.

"Last night? You mean…" Eren took a step forward, suspicious about Jean's intentions. "We have been at each other's throats for over ten years, why the hell do you care if I think you're a bother or not?"

Jean paused his temple massage, dropping his hand to his side. Eren wasn't that bright, but it freaked him out how close that question was to pulling up the truth. He moved another step forward making Jean grunt, unsure how to respond.

"Are you naturally stupid or do you have to practice at it?"

"Are you fucking serious." Eren spun on his heel and marched to the couch. He plopped down and threw his head back.

"I thought you dragged me here for paperwork." Jean stood, silently thanking whatever god that existed Eren was dense enough to be distracted so easily. He moved around to the other side of the desk and shuffled through the documents he received for their next mission.

"Right, paperwork."


End file.
